Page 87 of The Duke of Daring (The Untouchables)
Ivy’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
Lucy surrendered to the emotions catapulting through her. She didn’t want to be sad. She wanted to be happy. After everything she’d been through, she deserved that. And so did Andrew. “I love him. Lord help me, but I do. And,I think, he loves me too.”
Aquilla’s eyes brightened as she grinned. “How wonderful!”
“Why would you think that?” Ivy sounded skeptical and predictably pessimistic.
“He asked me to marry him.”
Aquilla gasped and brought her hand to her chest. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!”
Ivy looked at her sharply. “Because she said no. At least, that’s my assumption since you came in here declaring your association was finished. For the second time, I might add.”
Aquilla rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Goodness, Ivy, must you be so very negative?”
Lucy smiled. “It’s all right. Ivy has her reasons for being guarded. Just as Andrew has his reasons for being tentative. I told you he lost his entire family. He suffers nightmares and distressing bouts of—” She looked around as if she could find the word she wanted sitting on a table or hanging on the wall. “Anxiety, I would say. Or despondency. Probably both and much more. He holds himself back from relationships, I think.”
“Fascinating,” Aquilla said. “What are you going to do?”
Lucy’s mind was racing, along with her pulse. There was every chance he wouldn’t want her—that he reallyhadonly proposed to protect her reputation and that he’d been relieved when she’d turned him down. “I’m not sure. But I have to talk to him.”
“You have a kind heart, Lucy,” Ivy said quietly. “I hope he realizes what a treasure he has in you.”
Lucy smiled at her friend. “Thank you. I think he might.” She hoped so.
She stood abruptly, drawing on her gloves. Now that she knew what she wanted, she was eager to make it happen. “I have to go.”
Aquilla looked up at her. “Where? You can’t just show up at his town house.”
No, she couldn’t, not if she wanted to maintain her reputation. What did she care if she was to be married? Because maybe shewouldn’tbe married. A chill raced up her spine as she contemplated a future without him. She thought she’d resolved herself to that but realized she’d still nurtured a bit of hope. It had just taken her friends to fan it into action.
“Send him a note and ask him to meet you in the park later,” Ivy said, surprising Lucy with her advice.
Aquilla looked at her and blinked. “Ivy, are you in support of this? I can scarcely believe it.”
“I’m in support of whatever makes Lucy happy. Even if it is a man.” Her lips spread into a smile that made her eyes sparkle.
“You should do that more,” Aquilla said. “You really are beautiful.”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “Please.”
Lucy was already thinking ahead to meeting Andrew at the park. How could she ensure that he came? If he was concerned about her reputation, she’d threaten to go to his house. That ought to provoke him to meet her. “Can I send the note from here?” she asked.
“Of course.” Aquilla jumped up from the settee. “We can go downstairs to the library. Lord and Lady Satterfield have gone to the balloon ascension.”
Lucy froze. She’d completely forgotten that was today. Andrew would be going up. And then he would be coming down. Via parachute. Her heart twisted as she thought of him falling to the earth. That hadn’t ended too well for him the other day. He was fine, but would he be today?
“Do you know what time the ascension is?” Lucy asked, her heart thundering.
“At three, I think,” Aquilla said.
Lucy glanced at the clock on the mantel. That was in less than half an hour. With the crowd, they might not make it in time. “We need to get to Burlington House right away.”
Ivy rose. “Why?”
“Because Andrew is going to parachute out of a balloon, and I should like to give him a reason not to risk his life.” She only hoped it would be a good enough one.
Aquilla immediately strode toward the door. “I’ll have the coach brought around posthaste.”
